SPORT IN WALTOn-on-THAMES

Stompond Lane

The Sports Ground, Stompond Lane
(also known as Stompond Lane Sports Ground or more often just Stompond
Lane) is the home Walton & Hersham F.C. and Walton Athletic Club.

Stompond Lane consists of a football
pitch surrounded by a running track. A brick grandstand on the north
side contains 404 regular seats and 40 in two directors' boxes. On the
opposite side of the pitch is a covered terrace, with an uncovered
terracing surrounding the east side of the track.

Stompond Lane Sports Ground

Stompond Lane

Walton-on-Thames

KT12 1HF

Telephone: 01932 225351 (enquiries, not at track)

Fax: 01372 474939 (not at track)

Some of the notable features from the towns past are
outlined in the various articles on the site.

Walton & Hersham Football Club

Walton & Hersham F.C. play in the Isthmian League
Division One South. Founded in 1945, they originally played in the
Corinthian League, winning it three consecutive times from 1947 to 1949
(a league record). After the dissolution of the Corinthian League, they
joined the Athenian League, winning its Premier Division in 1969.
However, their biggest highlight is undoubtedly the winning of the FA
Amateur Cup in 1973.

Walton & Hersham have been responsible for the upbringing
of a number of players who have reached greater heights. Nathan
Ellington, for example, currently plays for Watford in the Football
League Championship. English football legend Sir Stanley Matthews also
spent time at the club as president.

History of Walton & Hersham FC.

1896-1945

The history of the Walton section of the club can be
traced back to 1896 when it was founded. It was not until 1926 that
Hersham F.C. came into existence. Before the second World War, both
clubs played in the Surrey Senior League.

1945–1963

In 1945, after World War II, Walton F.C. amalgamated with
Hersham F.C. to form Walton & Hersham. Walton & Hersham F.C. was a
founder member of the Corinthian League, winning it first in the 1946–47
season and then again the following two seasons. They won the Surrey
Senior Cup in the 1947–48 season.

Walton & Hersham F.C. joined the Athenian League in the
1950–51 season and went on to win the Surrey Senior Cup again.

They reached the FA Amateur Cup semi-finals in 1951–52
and in 1952–53 and achieved their all-time record crowd when ten
thousand spectators turned up to watch an FA Amateur Cup tie with Crook
Town. The team included defender C. R. "Jack" Neale who represented
Great Britain at the Olympics and the club's record goal-scorer Reg
Sentance.

Walton & Hersham reached the FA Cup first round proper
for the first time in 1957–58. They won the Surrey Senior Cup for a
third time in 1960–61 and retained the trophy the following season.

1963–1964

The Athenian League expanded in 1963 and Walton & Hersham
F.C. were placed in the Premier Division. A period of mid-table football
followed until the 1967 appointment of Allen Batsford as manager
heralded a new era of success, when in 1968–69 he won the Athenian
League. This was followed by two successive visits to the FA Cup first
round proper (in 1969–70 and 1970–71) and the Surrey Senior Cup was won
again in 1970–71.

Walton & Hersham were elected to the Isthmian League in
1971.

Success at Wembley Stadium

The 1972–73 season is statistically their greatest ever.
They won the Surrey Senior Cup, came runners-up in the league, reached
the FA Cup second round proper for the first time and, most
prestigiously, won the FA Amateur Cup, defeating Slough Town at Wembley
Stadium. They set a unique record by winning the competition without
conceding a goal.

Players in the final included Dave Bassett, Willie Smith
and Roger Connell later went on to become regulars in the England
amateur international team. In 1973–74, the club reached the FA Cup
second round proper again, having beaten Brian Clough's Brighton & Hove
Albion at Goldstone Ground 4–0. Following the defeat Clough almost got
into a fight with comedian Eric Sykes, who was associated with Brighton
& Hove Albion at the time and was laughing about the result to a friend
during a phone call.

In 1974, Batsford left to manage Wimbledon and took
players with him. Walton & Hersham were relegated in 1975 and, although
they reached the FA Cup first round proper again in the 1975–76
season,[7] they went close to extinction in the late 70s. They inspired
the name of punk band Sham 69 (who formed in 1976), as they derived it
from a piece of graffiti which read 'Walton & Hersham 69'.[10] Despite
briefly having Sir Stanley Matthews as President, the club endured a
lean period throughout the 1980s.

1994–present

Walton & Hersham F.C. were promoted to the Isthmian top
flight in 1994 (and reached the FA Cup first round proper that season,
although relegation followed in 1996. They were promoted again the
following year but relegation followed again in 2000.[2] After a spell
in the Isthmian League First Division, they appointed long-serving
player Alan Dowson as manager and he led them to a successful 2004–05
season, with promotion secured as runners-up.

After the resignation of Alan Dowson in October 2006,
former Gillingham first-team coach Bobby Paterson took over after a long
search for a new manager. Walton & Hersham F.C. were relegated that
season and Paterson's contract was terminated. The assistant manager Les
Cleevely—the former Carshalton Athletic player/assistant manager for
whom he made over 500 appearances—took over. Former Millwall chairman
Theo Paphitis became a member of Walton & Hersham's board of directors.
After a mid-table finish to the 2007–08 season, Les Cleevely became the
academy coach while Jimmy Bolton took over to become the manager. At the
beginning of March 2009, Jimmy Bolton was replaced for the rest of the
season by Matt Elverson as caretaker manager. During the 2009
off-season, John Crumplin was appointed manager.

Walton Casuals Football Club was formed in 1948 by a
group of ex-servicemen and first played in the Surrey Intermediate
(Central) League. The team joined the Surrey Senior League in 1969, the
same year they moved to their current ground at Franklyn Road.

In 1971 the team switched to the Suburban League and
spent the remainder of the decade ground-sharing with neighbours Hampton
& Richmond Borough and Addlestone. In 1992 the club joined the Surrey
County Premier League followed in 1995 by a step up to the Combined
Counties League.

In the 2004-05 season Walton Casuals FC were Combined
Counties League champions and were promoted to the Isthmian League. They
played one season in Division One before league re-organisation saw them
placed in Division One South for the 2006-07 season.

Walton Casuals F.C. was founded in July 1948, its early
origins can be traced back to members of the Armed Forces who formed a
Sunday side playing only friendly fixtures during the 1946-47 season.

The club started off in Division 1 of the Surrey
Intermediate (Central) League, playing at Elm Grove Recreation Ground,
gaining promotion to the Premier Division in 1952-53. Walton Casuals
finished runners-up on 3 occasions: 1954-55, 1956-57 and 1964-65. The
Surrey Intermediate (Central) League disbanded in 1965 and the club
moved into the League's Western Section for three seasons. In 1969
Casuals joined the new Surrey Senior League and moved to their current
home at Franklyn Road, Walton-on-Thames.

Two years later Walton Casuals became founder members of
the Suburban League, playing one season at Walton & Hersham's Stompond
Lane ground before moving to Addlestone's Liberty Lane ground for eight
seasons. Walton Casuals then returned to Franklyn Road where the
Reserves had continued to play in the Surrey Combination League.

The 1982-83 season Walton Casuals won their first major
honour, becoming champions of the Southern Section of the Suburban
League and setting a League record of going 23 games unbeaten. The
following year Walton Casuals were runners-up behind Sutton United FC.
In 1986-87 Walton Casuals reached the Surrey Premier Cup Final, loosing
out to Croydon FC.

The club went into decline regularly finishing in the
bottom two of the Suburban League. After 21 years of competing in the
Suburban League, the club decided to switch to the Surrey Premier League
in June 1992.

In 1993-94 Casuals won the Surrey Premier League
Challenge Cup, defeating Holmesdale F.C after a replay, and in 1994-95
the club finished runners-up in the League and were losing finalists to
Vandyke in the Challenge Cup but secured their promotion to the
Combined Counties League.

The first four seasons of senior football proved a real
struggle with Casuals even finishing bottom of the table in 1996-97 but
able to avoid relegation thanks to the League exercising its prerogative
to maintain a minimum number of clubs in the Premier Division.
With the help of Walton Charities, the installation of floodlights at
Franklyn Road was completed in February 1999, a major hurdle overcome as
far as ground requirements were concerned. The appointment of Mick
Sullivan and Garry Clark as joint managers in the summer of 1999 brought
about a dramatic improvement in results. As well as a best-ever finish
of 5th in the league, the club won the League Cup in 2000, beating
Viking Greenford 4-2 in the final at Farnborough. The following season
was also a relatively successful one, with a placing of 7thin the table
and another appearance in the League Cup Final, beaten on this occasion
by double-winners Cove 3-0 at Woking. Although 2002-03 proved a
disappointment in as much as the club finished in a lowly 18th spot, the
seeds of success had been sown with Spencer Collins taking over as
first-team manager in November 2002 and a team capable of much better
things slowly began to take shape. After more team-building in 2003-04
and a big jump up the table to finish in 7th spot, the club took the
Combined Counties by storm in 2004-05, finishing a massive 26 points
clear at the top of the table.

After initially failing an FA ground inspection, Casuals
launched a successful appeal and achieved promotion to the Isthmian
(Ryman) League Division One for 2005-06, where the club finished their
first season at in 15th place with 58 points from 44 games. The last
three seasons both proved more of a struggle however, with similar final
placings of 17th in 2006-07, 16th in 2007-08 and 17th in 2008-09.

Thames Valley
Skiff Club, based in Walton-on-Thames, is a skiff and punting club.
Founded in 1923, the club supports two traditional water sports -
skiffing and punting. The Thames Valley Skiff Club is located at the
end of Dudley Road, Walton-on-Thames and faces directly onto the river
Thames. The club originally operated from Rosewell's Boathouse close to
Walton Bridge before moving to Clark's boathouse in
Sunbury-on-Thames.

After 1945 the club moved a new home at the
Anglers Public House, Walton-on-Thames, before establishing its own boat
and club house at its current location in 1960.

The club has close historical links with Walton
Rowing Club further along the tow-path.

Skiffs are
traditional, stable wooden boats which are sculled with a pair of
blades, punts are 2ft and 1ft racing punts. Punting is carried out
competitively at regattas under the rules of the Thames Punting
Association. Skiffs are raced at regattas run under the rules of the
Skiff Racing Association, and are used for leisure outings such as
Thames meanders.